Watch Mercedes' crazy-nuts G-Wagen stomp on everything

The G500 4x4² features portal axles, 37-inch tires, and it might just become the next wacky special edition G-Wagen.

Mercedes loves the rolling-barn anachronism that is the G-Wagen, and it really loves cranking out bonkers special editions of the stalwart beast.

Witness, for example, the G63 AMG 6x6, a pickup-truck-ified G-Wagen on 37-inch tires with a third axle grafted on the back for good measure.

Last week, Mercedes teased us with images of the G 500 4x4², a mathematically-puzzling name for a concept that looks a lot like the 6x6 minus a pair of wheels. And with this new hype video showing the brazen bruiser in action, we're cautiously optimistic that this might become a very limited-production reality.

Our pals over at Car and Driver got a chance to slide behind the wheel of a 4x4² concept, and we like what they had to say. The jacked-up off-roader rides on portal axles, which raise the differentials above the centerline of those 37-by-12.5-inch mudders on 18-inch bead-lock wheels. All in, the nuclear-green truck has a massive 17.7 inches of ground clearance—and stands a full 88.6 inches high at its tallest point.

With a track width nearly a foot wider than the stock G 500, the 87.2-inch-wide behemoth is said to be as stable as its more reasonably-proportioned little brother, while offering nearly 40 inches of water fording depth. Street-friendly 325/55 tires on 22-inch wheels make for a slightly (laughably) more streetable option for rolling stock.

And that part right there is what makes us think this bizarro beast could be headed for production. See, the main thing that's killing off traditional body-on-frame off-roaders—like the beloved, soon-to-be-departed Land Rover Defender—is the increasing stringency of emissions standards. Those big, low-stress, naturally-aspirated V-8s that powered these brick houses for so many years just can't keep up with modern requirements. By fitting a smaller, modern, twin-turbo powerplant to this concept, Mercedes seems to be hinting at production viability.

The G-Wagen has a rabid following among image-conscious one-percenters and off-roading geeks alike. Mercedes sold 14,000 of the uber-expensive tanks in 2014, and considering most of the engineering costs on the platform were paid off three decades ago, you can assume a hefty profit margin is built into every one of these hulks. Mercedes has plenty of reasons to keep building the G-Wagen forever—and limited-run special editions like, say, a portal-axle off-roader in Electric Pee Pee Green, help maintain interest in the model as a whole.

And lest we think this G500 4x4² is too crazy for Mercedes to build, consider this: The company has reportedly sold out of the bonkers 6x6 G-Wagen, having built 100 of them for (extremely well-heeled, possibly maniacally unhinged) public consumption.

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